Seoul June 27 (IANS) Samsung Electronics will soon begin selling a refurbished version of its controversial Galaxy Note 7 smartphone which cost the company millions in losses last year following repeated reports of handsets catching fire.
The refurbished Galaxy Note FE handset will go on sale on July 7 company sources confirmed on Tuesday.
However a Samsung spokesperson told Efe news that the handset s cost price is yet to be determined and that they are waiting for their phone and information technology division to officially announce a launch date.
The South Korean tech giant is currently holding its bi-annual strategic forum in Seoul during which it is expected to announce upcoming launch dates for products including the Galaxy Note 8 the Note 7 s successor.
In a first for the company Samsung had to suspend manufacturing and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 following reports of several of these handsets catching fire.
A subsequent probe found the explosions were caused by the handset s non-removable battery.
The fiasco over Samsung s flagship smartphone caused the firm operating losses of some 6.1 trillion won ($5 billion).
The refurbished Note 7 will have completely updated software as well as a lower-capacity battery compared to the original model after attempts to develop a long-lasting but small battery were found to be partly to blame for the phones catching fire.
Following the smartphone s recall last year Samsung received a large number of petitions from environment groups asking it to repair and reuse the 4.3 million Note 7 handsets that were produced.
In March the company said it would recycle and refurbish the defective phones for sale.
--IANS
ksk/vt
Samsung to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7
